NZ stocks: F&P bounces back on US healthcare optimism

12.00 pm

A rebound by battered healthcare stock Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was the highlight of trading on the New Zealand sharemarket this morning.

The stock jumped 65c to 1420 after a bounce in the US healthcare sector on Friday night. That boosted F&P, which has fallen from around $16.85 in mid-January to $13.40 last week, a trend brokers said indicated nervousness ahead of the firm's third-quarter result on Thursday.

The company's sister unit, F&P Appliances, also benefited, rising 30c to 1010.

James Snell, a broker with Credit Suisse First Boston, noted today's market, was "a little bit firmer in line with offshore markets".

The NZSE-40 capital index was up 4.26 points to 2099.07 on turnover of $31.3 million, just after 11am.

This week marks the start of the reporting season with results from some of the bigger companies, including Independent Newspapers, Sky TV and Fletcher Building on Wednesday.

Fletcher Building, which enjoyed a strong run last week, was up 1c to 310. "It's one of those ones that people have re-weighted because of the housing sector," said Mr Snell.

Carter Holt Harvey, which goes ex-dividend by 3c today, was down 4c to 187.

Market leader Telecom was up 3c to 528 and was top of the turnover with $8.8 million worth of shares.

Tranz Rail reclaimed some of its 27c loss on Friday after Fay Richwhite sold its 14.5 per cent stake for $63.7 million, $3.60 a share. Today it was up 9c to 374.

Other moves included a 50c fall by Horizon Energy to 1330, a 1c fall by the Warehouse to 667, a 5c rise by Independent Newspapers to 390, and a 40c slump by Independent News & Media to 850.

There were 32 rises and 19 falls on 98 stocks traded so far.

On Wall Street over the weekend, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average clambered up 118.80 points, or 1.23 per cent, to 9,744.24. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 16.05 points, or 1.49 per cent, to 1,096.22.

The tech-laced Nasdaq Composite Index rose 36.77 points, or 2.06 per cent, to 1,818.88.

For the week, the Dow was down 1.6 per cent, the Nasdaq slumped 4.8 per cent and the S&P 500 declined 2.3 per cent.

- NZPA